Manure Delivers Benefits

The article looks at the benefits of manure from an economic standpoint:

Depending on species and how much precipitation water is getting into that manure, every 1,000 gallons of liquid dairy or liquid swine manure is going to have somewhere between $6 and $35 worth of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium per 1,000 gallons.

Also, the report recommends taking a proper sample and having the manure tested to know what type of nutrient volumes are applied.

Erb strongly encourages farmers to have an actual manure analysis. Simply dipping a 5-gallon bucket into the edge of the pit for a sample will not suffice. Mix samples thourghly. Erb recommends safely taking four or five samples from every other load with a coffee can. Mix those together and send a sample to the lab.An analysis should cost between $30 and $45; including a micronutrient test may cost a bit more. Providing a starting point to determine how much the manure is actually worth. We would use this when entering into an agreement between farms.

On the other hand, the solid diary manure doesn’t contain as much ammonia and provides about one-half the nitrogen as swine. However, the nitrogen content always is higher than phosphorous.

Soil Benefits

The fields where manure is applied do better in drier summers when it turns hot during corn pollination.This increases the organic matter to the soil increasing the soil water-holding capacity. Another benefit, particularly in some of the tighter soils with a bit more clay content, is that increased organic matter is increasing filtration.

We receive manure samples every day for analysis.

Midwest Laboratories offers the following basic manure package for $40.00.